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After decades of chasing bad guys and fighting the good fight, Harry Bosch, has finally retired. But he's not a man to go quietly into the night, ending his days by tending roses or playing chess with silver-haired buddies in the park. As he transitions into life after work it's not long before Harry carves out a new place for his skills and determination.
When his half-brother, defense lawyer Mickey Haller, comes calling for help Harry's gut reaction is No Way: he's spent a lifetime putting away the scum on the streets, and switching over to the other side means he'll be reviled as a traitor by the friends he's worked with for decades. But Haller convinces Harry that he's really fighting the same battle here: his client—a black and former gang member—is innocent, but certain to go down for a brutal attack and murder that he swears he didn't do. The clincher that moves Harry to go over to the dark side is his realization that if Haller's client is innocent, a murderer is walking the streets of LA.
Harry has his work cut out for him. Da'Quan Foster is accused of sexually assaulting, then beating to death Lexi Parks, a well-liked city official in West Hollywood. Foster had been arrested based on DNA evidence found at the scene of the crime—both on and inside the victim's body. It seems open-and-shut. But with the proviso that he'll turn over whatever he finds to the District Attorney, Harry agrees to take on the case.
Harry begins by pouring over the Murder Book, the investigation record kept on every case of homicide. He finds no evidence that the detectives working the case made any mistakes, or cut any corners. And Foster's alibi is in tatters, contradicted by a key witness. Harry's work will be cut out for him. Perhaps most telling, however, is that unknown to him other people have him in their sights.
With twenty-eight crime novels to his credit Michael Connelly is the gold standard, not only for police procedurals, but also for his nuanced characters and deft plotting. But it's also his trademark attention to detail that makes his tales compelling reading. Connelly's novels are an informed and gripping account of the day-to-day realities that define police work, from the nuanced relations between officers who may not always agree to the myriad ways that crucial evidence may be shared with the defense, yet preserve the prosecution's edge. It screams of reality. Pick up any one Connelly novel and you'll be hooked on the series. Bosch might be retired, but he's still very much on top of his game.
§Since 2005 Jim Napier's reviews and interviews have appeared in several Canadian newspapers and on various crime fiction and literary websites, including his own award-winning site, Deadly Diversions. He can be reached at jnapier@deadlydiversions.com
Reviewed by Jim Napier, June 2016
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